Only one may touch
by Lohis
Summary: What if the battle at the ruins in "Deus Ex Machina" didn't end the way it did? How will Knock Out deal with what the fate throws at him, especially with the scratches and the human femme? Minor coarse language/suggestive adult themes. KOxOc
1. Meeting the sports car

_**A/N: This is my first Transformers/Beast Wars fanfic. I really like Knock Out and I've always wondered what he would do in a situation like this.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Knock Out or anything else, except my Oc.**_

_**Hope you like it! Comments and reviews are welcome.**_

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><p>I sighed. This trip to Greece wasn't as much fun as I had originally thought. I swiped a hair lock from my face and fixed the sunglasses back to my eyes. The Mediterranean gleamed with the sun's rays like stars on the night sky. I sipped at my coffee. The cafe I was in was almost empty and behind a couple of buildings, out of the sights of others. I really didn't want any souvenir sellers to find me and shove plastic junk at me.<p>

Why I had come to Greece of all the places, I couldn't recall. After all ancient ruins and rocky shores equal to boring in my opinion. The only thing that had even slightly caught my attention was the car repair shop next to some old dusty ruins. '_Maybe I should stop by at that repair car shop. Who knows what wonders I might find'_ I wondered and got up. Luckily the nearest bus stop wasn't far. I checked the schedule for the next bus up to the ruins.

The bus clanged up the rocky road to the excavation site. "Strange" I mumbled and flipped the next page on the newspaper I was reading. My Greek wasn't excellent but I got the main point. Apparently a group of teens or so had come to the excavation site, broken a couple of vases, knock down a column and completely destroyed an ancient fresco picturing Zeus with a golden sphere. How the column got 20 meters from its original position, no one knows. "Strange Greeks" I mumbled and folded the paper when the brakes came to a screeching halt. _'The driver better oil the brakes or soon he'll be driving 200km/h down the hill and into the ocean'_ I thought behind my faked smile to the driver. _'And he could switch out of that suit, he's a public tourist bus driver not the President's private wheel spinner'_

The midday sun burned my neck as I walked to the repair shop. An elderly man was slouching on a chair on the porch. I stepped into the shade of the porch roof and cleared my throat. No effect. I harrumphed again and gained a dismissive gesture from the man. "Fine" I murmured and went to the back.

For a moment I felt like home. The piles and piles of old, used, rusty cars lapped on top of each others, some laying without a wheel, others with no roof or windshield. I whistled a long descending whistle and inhaled. "Oh, the smell of oil and paint" I murmured. My mind became intoxicated with memories and the feeling of adrenaline. This was my home turf.

I strolled between the piles of cars and in my mind I sorted them to junk or treasure. After walking through the hole backyard and effectively dividing the four wheelers I sighed. There were a couple of old beauties here, but mainly just unsalvageable rusty crap. That '79 Fire Bird over near the end was okay, but for racing, it would need a miracle.

I surpassed a frustrated sigh. This holiday was getting just better, better and better. Annoyed I kicked a small pebble. I followed its path to the hay pile behind some water barrels where, I thought, the rock would be lost for ever.

Clang.

I lifted my eyebrow at the sound. "Wait a sec..." I said and turned towards the barrels. I picked up another pebble and threw it intentionally at the hay stack. The metallic response confirmed my thoughts. "That no good man!" I cursed. "Tried to keep something to yourself, eh?" I paced to the stack and there in the afternoon sun gleamed a hidden beauty. The red paint was torn apart with many scratches and with the help of the unbearable heat chrome parts had faded into dark shade of coal and the body dented with thousands of dints and deep gashes. Faintly one could make out that there once were silvery tribals on the sides.

I held back my breath. Slowly I turned and went to bargain with the owner of the shop. He was still in his chair, but this time a bottle lay on his lap. "Excuse me" I started. The man grunted. "Excuse me mister. I was walking in the back and..." Another grunt. I clenched my fists. _'Enough with politeness'_ I thought and said: "Hey mister, I'm a customer. Customer! I want to buy that red sports car." I pointed to the direction of the barrels. Silence. I slowly counted to ten and tried again.

The man lifted his gaze and muttered something in Greek. I took out my billfold and waited him to say the price. He stared at me, at my billfold and at the bottle on his lap. I snarled and gave him a twenty. He looked at me and at the money and slowly shook his head. I snarled again and took out another twenty euro bill, hey I was in Europe after all. In a millisecond the man grabbed the money out of my hands and waved me away. "Keys." I said and folded my arms over my chest. The man glanced at me and smiled. "No key." "What?" "No key." I looked at him disbelievingly. "There has to be a key." "No." "Fine!" I grunted frustratedly and went to the car.

I tried the handle. Locked. "Just my luck" I mumbled and took a firm grip of the door. I kicked at the lock and pulled the handle. It gave away. "And they always said that spending my time with racers and car builders wouldn't pay off." I snickered.

I sat down on the dusty leather seat and sighed in awe. Whoever had owned this car before really cared for the inside. _'But then again'_ I thought _'If they loved the inside like this, why have the outside look like it was hit by a hailstorm?'_ I winced the thought away when I saw the key in the keyhole. "Let's see what you can do..." I giggled and turned the key.


	2. Smooth as a pebble

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just my Oc.**_  
><em><strong>Contains: Minor coarse language<strong>_

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><p><em>It was dark at the excavation site. I slowly stood up and walked over to the big green mech. "He's a glutton for punishment." I said and energized my energon pod as Breakdown chuckled next to me. There was the sound of a ground bridge opening. I turned my head and saw the Autobots drive through and transform. Their lasers flashed around us and I could hear my assistant asking if we should stay and fight. "Mm.. Drive" I mumbled and sped off, or tried to. That femme's laser blasted the rock wall in front of me. I hit the brakes but my race tires didn't dig into the soft ground. With my side first I collided with the cliff wall and the rocks came tumbling down on me. "Graah!" I screamed and everything went black.<em>

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><p>The engine roared into life. I snickered and tried the speed pedal. The red sports car lunged forward. "Wow!" I laughed. "You really are built for racing!" With a firm grip on the steering wheel I switched gears and inhaled deeply. "Here we go." I said and pressed the pedal to the floor.<p>

The car sped out behind the barrels leaving hay floating in the air. With a couple of turns I made it out of the backyard and onto the road. I pulled back the emergency brake and made a racer's U-turn. I revved the engine and let the lap-meter reach its top before releasing the brake. The tires burned their marks on the road and like a lightning I passed the angry Greek man. From the rear mirror I saw him throwing stuff at me and giving me the finger.

The only thing that made me happier than speeding with a car, was speeding with a car I had got with honest ways. "Now, let's see what you can do..."

If someone would have been flying over the old mountain road by the rocky shore, all he would have seen was a red spot sucking in the sharp turns and emitting a cloud of dust and sand.

I laughed. My heart was beating itself out of my chest and my eyes were flickering with delight and thrill. Before scorching out of the last village, I had bought all the materials I needed to repair the devilish car. From one of my travels I could remember finding a good remote spot between two mountain cliffs some 20 km from my current location. It was an old lookout point with a small trail cabin and garage for long-way travelers, and hopefully had some tools for metalwork.

The roar of the engine cut off as I turned the key and removed it from the ignition. It shined gold with the evening sun. My thumb traced the engraved symbol on the side of the key. "Busy day, huh?" I sighed and stepped out of the car. For awhile I let the wind from the sea blow at my face as I took in the splendor in front of me. I was going to have a couple of long days ahead of me.

I rolled the car into the open garage and took out the stuff I had bought earlier, as well as my luggage I had picked up from my motel. To my utter disappointment, the house was in worse condition than it looked. "It appears that I have to sleep in the front seat..." I mumbled and threw my luggage next to the paint cans. "I just hope the heater is working..."

The morning came far too soon for my taste. Annoyed I stretched a bit just to hit my head, elbow and knee on various spots around the driver's seat. I grunted in pain and opened the door. "Phew... Well, I better get to work." I muttered, hit the radio on and stepped out to work on the body.

It took me most of the morning to sand away the old paint and small scratches. I continued by grinding and puffing the body and patching it up until it was as smooth as a beach pebble, if not smoother. The body had been streamlined and sleek, and even for my trained eye it was impossible to make out old scratches or dents.

The framework of the car truly amazed me, it was almost like there were no welding seams or metal bolts to hold the axles and main structure together. Luckily, besides the excellent frame, all of the tanks, pipes and metal bars were in tiptop condition. No rust at all. That meant that all I needed to check before doing the paint job was the electric circuits.

I popped up the hood. The engine took a good portion of the space provided. I leaned over and carefully traced my fingertips along the battery wires, spark-plugs, connectors and pumps. "Hmm... Interesting..." I mumbled. "The radiator is okay, so are the fuel pumps... It's almost like somebody just smashed the body..." I swiped some sweat from my forehead. "Well, easy job for me. I'll just switch the air filter and try out the engine to see if it leaks." But in the back of my head a small voice wondered: _'What was this car doing in a scrapheap car repair shop?'_

With all of the electric work done, I sat down on the seat. I let my aching body to adjust to the softness of the leather before taking out the chrome key from my pocket. "The moment of truth." I put the key into the ignition and with a sharp intake, turned it. Nothing. I tried again. Silence. I kept bending the key until the wires gave an alarming snap. "Well, that's not good" I mumbled and whipped some of the escaped hair strands back behind my ear. With a sigh I thought, _'It's tomorrow's problem.'_

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><p><em>'What happened?'<em> I thought with all my statistics flashing telling me that I was operational and in alt-mode and that it was night time. "Graah!" I grunted in annoyance of the work I had to do with all the scratches from those damn lasers. I was about to transform when I felt something on my front seat. I moved my rear view mirror to get a better look. A small sleeping figure laid on my seat, her brown hair covering her face. _'Who is she?' _I thought and took a look around my surroundings._ 'And where am I?'_

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><p><em><strong>That's for chapter 2. :) I know that it takes far more time than just one day to repair a car but it goes with the story to get Knock Out active in a small period of time. I try to be fast with the next chapter. Comments and reviews are welcome.<strong>  
><em>


	3. Renewing something lost

**_Here's chapter 3. Hope you like it. :) And thank you CaidaDeEstrella for your review. ^^_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my Oc._**

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><p>I woke to the sound of raindrops. Lazily I opened my eyes just to meet a shroud of blackness. I blinked a couple of times just to make sure I was awake, but it turned out that the darkness was here to stay. It seemed that the gods of Olympus wanted to prolong my advancement with the four wheeler. "Dammit. I can't paint when bucket loads of water are being emptied from the skies" I cursed hitting the steering wheel in resentment. "Well... Better check if the shower is working in this place." I muttered and got out of the sports car gently closing the door. I picked up my bag from the floor and went to find the bathroom and, if Zeus so allowed, to take a decent shower.<p>

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><p>Apparently the little femme wasn't a morning person, not to mention a sun lover. I chuckled. Why, I didn't know. I should've been mad with the organic for touching me and moreover hitting me with her puny little hand. But I wasn't. I felt more pity than anger towards her. After all, she just wanted to do the paint job. <em>My<em> paint job, to be precise. "And why would I allow a human to make me perfect again?" I grumbled. And with that, it hit me. Perfect. My statistics told me that she had done a perfect job fixing what ever had been wrong with me and from the reflection of an old worn-out mirror I could see the smoothness of my body. Heck, I could _feel_ it. Even Breakdown couldn't puff this well.

I snapped out of my self-admiration when I felt something else. The girl was tracing my side with her fingers, most likely admiring the work she had done. Her slender fingertips followed the seam of my hood and with a gentle tug she popped it up. I felt rather exposed, after all, mech's vital stats are his own business. I tried to concentrate on something else than her going through my inner parts but the touch of her fingers on my wires just couldn't be ignored.

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><p>I smiled. There truly wasn't a reason why, everything just felt... good. My skin was still cool from the shower and my hair smelled like lavender. And... there was the car. Even without its paint, just looking at the devilish car made shivers run down my spine. I couldn't help myself, I had to touch it. I had to feel the coldness of the metal and the tremor of the hidden power beneath its hood. With agitation I lifted up the hood and touched the motor and for a moment I could've sworn I heard humming. I easily shrugged it aside and chose a wire leaving the engine and checked that it was properly attached in both ends. "That's okay..." I mumbled and checked another one. I heard a small cling. "Definitely not okay."<p>

With my free hand I searched for a small wrench and after knocking down a couple of oil spray cans I found one. I tightened the nut around the wire and got up to go turn the key. The engine gave a weak, bad sounding snarl. "Not tight enough it seems..." I shut the power and went to tighten the connector nut a bit more.

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><p>I wanted to shout in agony when she turned the key. The bad connection burned. How my systems were unable to notice such a major glitch was to be solved as soon as possible. It took all of my mind power not to transform and give her a piece of my mind about delicacy. But I remained silent as she leaned over my side to fix the connection, and her touch... Never before had something so small had the ability to soothe me down, at least not as efficiently.<p>

I let her drive me out of the garage into the warm Mediterranean summer. For the first time I could actually get a lock of my position and some idea where I was. _'It seems I didn't get far from the energon site...'_ I thought to myself as the girl went to get something. This gave me just enough time to run a complete systems check without her noticing and as I suspected, and with great relief, I had no damaged circuits, connections, viruses or dust in my tailpipe.

She came back with some sort of a spray gun with a paint can attached to it and a roll of tape and paper in the other hand. Of course I knew what she was going to do, after all I had done it many times to myself, except the purpose of that small wooden stick with hairs on the other end was, I hate to admit it, a mystery to me.

After completely covering my windows and grill with the paper and tape she started to spray paint the prime color. I must say I was afraid she wasn't an expert painter but once more my fears of her abilities were made out of thin air. Besides she had the spray coming in a gentle rate, not too much to have the paint running along my side and not too slow to leave nasty spots.

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><p>My hand was stable even though the spray gun weighted like hell. I guided the spray to go in diagonal lines and the slanted the other way. Back in junior high I wasn't a maestro with paint but after entering high school it changed. I'm no Da Vinci but pretty good with big paint subjects, in my own opinion.<p>

After getting the darker red on the car I let it dry before spraying on the base color. Back in the village I had tried to find the same kind of red as the sports car had had before and what I came up with was as close as possible, if not exactly the same.

I put the spray can down and sighed. The car shone bright red in the sun and as I had thought, there were no dripping marks in the paint. "Pretty good job, if I may say so myself" I chuckled while dipping the small brush in yellow paint. "I agree, though if I may suggest, silver goes better with the shade of this red" A man's voice came out of nowhere. The paint brush dropped from my hand as I looked around me. I was alone. "And to add to that, I prefer tribals to flames. Flames are so last century."

I screamed. For the very first time in my life since I was four I screamed.

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><p><strong><em>That's for the third chapter. Hope you liked it. ^^<em>**

**_Comments and reviews are welcome, as well as ideas and requests._**


	4. Painful, for both

_**A/N: So, first of all, thanks for all the reviews. It's very nice to hear what you think about this fanfic. Secondly, sorry it took so long to post this chapter, it had been almost done for a couple of weeks but I just needed to end it. Thirdly, I don't know how far this story is going, so if you have any opinions, let me know please. Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Knock Out and the Transformers, I only own my OC.**_

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><p>The lady's scream made me temporarily shut down my audio receptors. And I thought she would be, as the humans put it, cool with it but apparently I was wrong.<p>

She backed away from me, knocking the yellow paint can over on her way."What the hell are you?" was all she was able to get out of her mouth for the time being. "And what are you doing in my car?" I chuckled. "My dear, paint covered lady, I am not in the car, I am the car and I'm not **yours**. I am an independent soul... almost, at least."

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><p>My brain worked faster than ever. It went through all the information I had gained thus far; a talking car, an independent one, clearly cocky and a male voice. My mind raced through different reasonable solutions for this and finally landed on an understandable one.<p>

"You..." My voice fainted. I almost felt that the car was looking at me as if it was aware of my presence. I cleared my throat and tried again. "You are just a voice recording. Cars don't talk and they don't have a mind of their own, after all metal doesn't have the same neuro pathways as humans do. It cannot have brain activity."

I shakily stood just to support my claim but my feet didn't follow with my head. I stumbled down on the ground. I had braced myself to hit the hard earth and lift up a cloud of dust but fate alas, or the gods of Olympus, wanted otherwise. All I felt and saw was the yellow paint can without its lid rolling towards the sports car hitting a rock on its way and against all laws of gravity gained altitude.

There was a clear clang followed with an awkward silence.

A nagging feeling in the back of my head encouraged me to get up and run till my legs couldn't carry me anymore and crawl the rest of the way. But I knew, I just knew that that wouldn't save my ass.

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><p>I transformed. I ran my servos over the still wet yellow paint on my arm. It dripped. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound was worse than her scream. I stared at her in utter disgrace.<p>

How I was able to think that she was special earlier I do not know, and part of me wanted to kick myself in the tailpipe for ever thinking like that. "You... You... You FLESHBAG! Do you have any idea...? How do you think I'll be able to...? Do you know how long it's going to...? ARGH! Do you even think, human?"

With every word I had closed in the distance between her and me and now my face was hovering just a few feet over her small body. The expression on her face switched between shock and fear and for a moment I thought she would shed lubricant from her eyes. Cry, I think was the correct word.

Apparently she saw the softening of my face as I pondered the right word and she let out a suppressed breath. With her eyes fixed on mine she, to my surprise, took of her shirt and pressed it against my arm. "What are you...?" I muttered and tried to pull my hand away. "Don't." Was all she said. I looked at her, but she didn't look back. Instead with a couple of swift movements she wiped off the yellow paint and stepped away.

I stood and examined the now-clean arm. "You... You ruined your shirt." Was all I could mutter.

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><p>A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Apparently that was closest to the thank you I could get I thought.<p>

"Yeah, well... I didn't like the shirt anyway. Green really isn't my color." He nodded in agreement. "Yes, correct. Only black goes with the color of your hair. For example look how well your bra looks with your hair pinned up like that."

My whole face became more red that the car's paint job and hastily I turned on my heels and made my way to the house. "Was it something I said?" I could hear the robot mumble.

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><p>She came back with a black tank top on. In my opinion there was little difference in bras and tank tops but she looked more relaxed now. I placed my servo on my hip and tilted my head as she stopped in front of me.<p>

"Okay. So, what if we start over again?" "Sure, without the yellow paint and screaming of course." "Of course" She mumbled and took a ragged inhale. "So, I'm Rachel and I found you from a scrap heap yard and bought you so that I can repair you and maybe go racing." Luckily the girl wasn't a fan of formalities. "Knock Out, a scientist but often called a medic." She looked at me disbelievingly. "And an automobile enthusiastic." She chuckled lightly and nodded approvingly.

"Tell me err... Rachel, why a femme like you likes racing. You really doesn't look much of a racing type." "Well... I could ask you why a medic likes daring races that most likely cause painful deaths?" I laughed. She really knew how to loosen up a mech. "I did say I'm more of a scientist than a medic. I prefer breaking apart to fixing... things." Transformers actually, but she didn't have to know that.

"Okay. So... what now?" She asked. "Easy", I said and transformed. An astonished look crept to her face. "You finish painting my tribals." Her eyes lit up. "Sure, silver?" "If you please." I chuckled.

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><p>I grabbed the tape and outlined the tribals Knock Out wanted.<p>

I was halfway through the first side when he asked the question I had feared he would ask. "Exactly how much did you pay for me?"

I stopped spraying the silver paint. "Umm..." his side mirror turned towards me. "Rachel, how much?" I swallowed loudly and stood up. "Umm... forty." "forty thousand? Nah, Not bad." I shook my head. "No, forty."

For a second, everything slowed down and I dared to hope he wouldn't... "WHAT?" He transformed. "Are you telling me, I'm worth FORTY LOUSY BUCKS?" "Euros." "WORSE!"

He clenched his fists and hit the nearest mountain wall. "Knock Out, your body was in a bad condition. It had..." "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" He shouted and turned on his heels.

I was too close. He kicked me in the side and sent me flying. I landed badly on my shoulder and everything was blurry. I heard his steps closing and a shadow fell over me. "Rachel! Are you okay?" I felt one of his servos lightly touch my face. "No..." I whimpered and closed my eyes.

"Rachel!"

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><p><em><strong>So, that's for chapter 4. Hope you liked it. I try to be faster with the next one. ^^<strong>_


	5. Knock Out alone

_**A/N: Okay, so this is a very short chapter. Sorry for that, but I promise the next on will be longer (and therefore take more time to write, sorry about that) ^^'**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Knock Out or other Transformers characters. I only own my OC.**_

_**Warnings: minor coarse language (teeny tiny bit)**_

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><p><em>Why on my watch... Seriously... Who... knew that...so weak..What...This...Not good... leaks... must stop... I...Rachel... wake up...please...wake...hey... hear... Up...Rachel...good...girl...you can... it...open... eyes... Rachel...<em>

"W-wha...?" My words clung to my throat. My mouth was dry and I could taste dry blood. I felt something cool around me. "Hey, Rachel. Wakey wakey..."

My eyelids felt heavy. "I... can't... Knock Out... I'm sorry..."

I drifted away again.

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><p>I looked at the tiny figure of Rachel resting on my palm. With a sigh I lifted her to the level of my optics. It had taken me some time to find some fabric to use as bindings to her wounds. I had bandaged her right shoulder and side as well as I could taking into consideration the size- and species difference we shared. A moment ago her side had started leaking that red fluid again and with one of her shirts I was able to stop it.<p>

Though not without sacrifices of my own.

The fluid had left a couple of irritating stains on my servo and no matter what I tried, it didn't come off. "I better ask Rachel how to remove them when she wakes up" I muttered and lowered her down to rest on a pile of rags and clothes I had piled up for her bed.

I sat down beside her. With my elbow on my knee I rested my cheek against my clean palm and stared out the garage door. It was dark. The moon hadn't come up yet and only the brightest stars were visible. And for the first time in eons, I felt miserable. I had absolutely nothing to do.

I didn't have Megatron to run useless medical tests on. I didn't have Breakdown to nag to when he didn't puff well enough and amazingly I didn't have Starscream telling me to ask for permission for my...well... hobbies. And the cream to top my cake of miserable time, I didn't have those blasted Vehicons to fix and shout at. And what came to the Autobots, I couldn't care less. They and their little human friends were of no importance to me. How they kept theirs alive and well, when mine ended up being stepped on, I did not know.

"Wait" I said to no one in particular. "Did I just call her _my_ human friend?" A finger slid down from my cheek to my chin. "My human friend... Hmm... My... human... friend... Rachel. Rachel, my human friend. I do like the sound of that." _/Sound of what?/_

I jerked up and hit my head to the ceiling. "Ow! Breakdown! Don't do that!" I shouted through my com-link. _/Sorry, but where are ya? What happened?/_ I glanced at Rachel's unconscious body before turning my attention to the blue mech on the other side of my com-link. "Thank you, Breakdown, for your concern of my well-being. I'm fine, thank you for asking."

There was silence for a while._ /Slaggit, I said I'm sorry, Knock Out. I know you're okay. Hell, you're always okay, but.../_ "Breakdown!" I hissed. Silence again. "Breakdown", I started, "Yes, you are correct that I'm always okay, but it's still customary to ask your SUPERIOR how they are!"

For a moment all I heard was static. 'Well, at least he's still there. Otherwise...' My thought was cut short when my assistant's deep voice came through my com-link again. This time, with a different tone. _/I'm sorry sir, are you all right, sir?/_ 'Not this game again' I thought annoyed. 'He's hell to talk to right now'

And someone to talk to was everything I needed at the moment... Or some one at the computer with access to high speed internet.

I straightened my sleek body and said: "That's better soldier. Now, I need you to search a couple of things for me. First, find me a list of all of the races, both legal and illegal, within the radius of 300km from my current position for the next seven days."Through my com-link I could hear the tapping of heavy fingers against the computer console. _/Sending the list now. Something else, sir?/_ "Yes. Find me..."

After stating my request I heard a series of low grumbles and silent murmuring, but like the first time, I got the information I needed. "thank you Breakdown, you have been a great help to me. Knock Out out." I clicked off my com-link. 'I'm going to hear about this for a _loong_ time.' I thought. "But..." A chuckle rose from my chest. "These _really_ surpass the consequences."

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><p><em><strong>Sorry for the short chapter. ^^' reviews and comments are welcome. Yay for Breakdown<strong>__**!**_


	6. Getting better?

_**Here's chapter 6! Sorry it took so long to post. I hope you like it. Thank you for all of the reviews, they keep me going. ^^  
>We're coming to the end soon.<strong>_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC.  
>Rating: Safe<br>**_

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><p>I didn't know where I was and to tell the truth, I didn't care. I was too tired to get up let alone open my eyes. So I just floated there, <em>somewhere<em>, and enjoyed the feeling. No pain, no gigantic robots hovering over me, no worries. Life was good.

First I didn't pay any attention to the increasing critter in my ears but after a moment it had grown to a high-pitch sound and was really causing me a headache.

I groaned and shifted just to find myself falling. I opened my eyes slightly and was shocked to see the ground getting closer, fast. Way too fast, and way too close.

I swallowed and closed my eyes. An image of a watermelon hitting the ground flashed on my eyelids and I could've sworn I heard the _swat_ and _splash _accompany it.

'I'm going to die.'

I hit the ground with a thud.

I didn't dare to move to find out how many limbs I had lost, instead my senses tuned to hear low chuckling from somewhere behind me.

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><p>I didn't know which one was more enjoyable, taking apart an Autobot piece by piece, exposing the circuits and causing as much pain as possible before showing the well-known Decepticon <em>mercy<em> and ripping out the spark chamber so that the 'bot on the table could see it before offlining, or, to recall the wide range of emotions Rachel showed on her face while falling off from my palm.

Truly a difficult choice.

'Well...' I thought, 'luckily nobody saw the range of emotions on MY face as I dove to catch her.'

She was lying on her stomach, eyes shut tight, limbs stretched out in every direction of the wind and a small whimper, or a prayer, was escaping her lips in a constant flow.

I watched the scene for a while. My smile slowly turned into a narrow line, my optics dimming from flickering bright red to a serious glow as my other servo was brought around from casual leaning against my side to gently stroke Rachel's shivering back.

Her whimpers faded and I gained an assuring inhale from her.

Gently I cupped my palm and scooped a finger underneath her, being careful not to hurt her in any way or to rip off her bandages, and pushed the little body first on her knees and then into a comfortable sitting position, or as comfortable as it gets with your right shoulder and side are broken.

"Hey Rachel? You okay?" I asked as I lifted her up for closer inspection.

She stared blankly forward.

"Rachel?"

Nothing.

'Oh no!' I thought and started to scan her vital signs when she spoke up.

"...Out..."

"Sorry?"

"Out." She said, with a little more emphasis on the word.

I looked at her baffled. "Rachel, I don't..."

"OUT!" She screamed on the top of her lungs and I fought the urge to cover my audio receptors.

I put her down and scrambled out of the garage into the sunshine. I glanced back at the garage and saw an empty can flying at me. Dodging it I heard Rachel's voice.

"Go away! And don't come back!"

"Ra-" I started and took a cautious step forward.

"AWAY!"

"Okay, okay", I muttered and turned around, "Primus, how can the Autobots take this every day?"

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><p>I leaned against one of the walls in the garage and winced in pain. The sound of an engine starting and of tires screeching to get a grab of the loose sand reached my ears.<p>

The roar of the engine grew distant every second until I couldn't hear it anymore.

"That stupid Knock Out…!" I cursed and slowly slid down onto the floor.

"What was he thinking? I could've died! On both occasions", I mumbled annoyed and took a deep inhale.

A jolt of pain shot through my side as I exhaled the air out of my lungs.

"Oh, why did I have to go and find some excitement on my vacation? I could've gone to the boring museums and to the beaches full of tourists taking pictures and burning themselves in the sun. But no, I had to go and look for trouble."

I looked around in the garage and for the first time noticed the stack of clothes piled to resemble a bed.

"Wha-?" I mumbled and got up. Slowly, one step at a time, I dragged myself to the so-called bed.

With a suppressed cry I sat down.

"I..." I breathed and collapsed on the pile of clothes on my back.

Ignoring the pain I pulled my legs up and relaxed. The silence tangled around me and I was ready to fall asleep when a grumble broke the silence.

My eyes shot open in fear of seeing the headlights of the maroon red car, but to my luck the sound was just my stomach growling.

"Too tired to think about food" I muttered and sank into the clothes.

* * *

><p>A gentle tapping woke me from my slumber. I cursed quietly and looked at the intruder.<p>

He wore a blue uniform and a cap to match it. The human looked puzzled and continued to tap my windshield.

For a moment I considered driving over him but the thought of more stains on my paintjob made me give up the tempting idea. Instead I hit the reverse and spun around leaving the police officer coughing in my exhaust.

'Time to face the fury of Rachel', I thought and sped down the streets of the town I had ended up in my annoyance of the small human femme.

* * *

><p>A gentle breeze of cool air swept across my face. I lazily opened my eyes to meet the dim red optics of the maroon red car.<p>

"Hey…" He said but was cut off by my shriek. The robot dropped whatever he was holding and covered his audio receptors.

"Could you stop doing that?" He snapped and glared at me.

"Well", I scoffed, "only if you promise not to scare me again."

Knock Out nodded and squatted to pick up the small bag he dropped.

"Here, you must be hungry", he said and handed me the white bag.

I got up into a sitting position and took it. A strong smell of hamburgers and French fries rose to my nose as I opened to see what was inside.

'It's time to calm my grumbling stomach', I thought happily and unwrapped the cheeseburger.

Apparently the red car noticed my smile and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked my mouth full.

"Nothing", he said, "it's just that I once read that the way to a woman's heart leads through her stomach. It seems that it's true."

I swallowed and shook my finger at him. "No, it's the way to a man's heart."

"What ever", he mumbled and shrugged.

I laughed at that and for a moment a relieved look was on Knock Out's face. I could feel my cheeks getting hotter and quickly I turned my head way and mumbled: "What did you pay this with? I don't think humans and robots share the same currency."

A thoughtful flicker passed his optics and one of his clawed fingertips rose to tap his cheek.

After a small time of pondering the robot bent down and said: "Pay?"

I stared at him for a long while before opening my mouth: "Never mind, I don't wanna know."

"That's my girl", Knock Out chuckled and sat down next to me.

He stretched his slim form and leaned against the wall. I finished eating in silence and as I was cleaning up he got up and looked at me.

"Feeling better?"

I nodded and reached my hand towards him.

"What are you doing?" Knock Out said tilting his head slightly.

"Pull me up. Gently, please."

Amazingly he did what I asked. He bent down and gave me one of his fingers. I put my arms around it and he lifted me on my feet.

"Thanks", I smiled at him.

"Well, now that you're feeling better…" Knock out said and transformed.

He opened his driver's side door. "Get in. We're going for a spin."

I stared at the open door before limping to it and sitting down on the seat.

The seat belt shot around me as the door closed.

"Hold on tight. You're going to love this!" He laughed and sped out of the garage.

I grabbed the seat in surprise.

'What did I get myself into?' I thought and watched as the speed meter reached 150 km per hour.

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><p><strong><em>There it was, I hope you liked it. ^^ Reviews, comments, ideas and requests are welcome.<em>**


	7. Last race, last moments

**Finally I was able to finish this chapter. I'm very sorry it took so long, my apologizes. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC.  
><strong>**Rating: Safe T**

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><p>"Um… Knock Out?" I started and shrieked as he shot past a custom mustang.<p>

For a while only the roaring of his engine told me that the maroon red car was still functioning.

"Yes, Rachel?" Came the chuckling voice as another racer was pushed out of the track.

"I was just thinking… You know, that maybe you could… I don't know… slow down a bit?"

The brake pedal hit the floor and I was pressed against the seat belt cursing. A silver jaguar, which had been tailing us for a while now, slipped past and honked its horn just to deepen the pain I was experiencing. Knock Out was blind to all this.

"Rachel", he started, "we have been over this before."

I bit my lip. _Yes, we have_, I thought, _many times_.

"But… This race… it's our last together. So I was thinking that perhaps we could just… enjoy the time together."

I mentally slapped myself. Whatever made me say something that… lame?

Knock Out was clearly pondering over my words and seemed to get the idea.

"Yes", he said, "it is and that is why", he switched gears, "we should race like never before!"

He shot from full stop to full speed in a… nano-sec or something.

The alien car caught up with the leading pack, the silver jaguar accompanied with a red Ferrari and a white-and-gray Camero, and was ready to pass all of them in the next curve. I cursed between my teeth and dug my nails into the cozy leather seat getting no response from Knock Out.

"Ready fleshlings, 'cause here we COME!" He roared and climbed the outer side of the track and as a clear surprise to the human drivers slid in front of them and blazed off leaving a trail of burned rubber behind.

"Well, happy now?" I asked as he pulled off on a scenic cliff side some 20 km from the race track.

"Of course, we won. Aren't you?" The car's voice had a hint of disappointment in it.

"Erm...", I mumbled noticing the tone of his voice, "well… Yes. But my joy is being reduced by the pain the victory caused."

"But you must agree the race was worth the small jolt."

"Small jolt? It might be small for your species but I really can't take my mind off of it. And now, if you don't mind, I'll be stretching my legs."

I grabbed the door handle but it failed to open. I tried again with a bit more force.

"That's useless, you know." The maroon red car said quietly.

The way he had said it made shivers run up my spine and suddenly fear crept to my sub consciousness.

"What do you mean 'useless'?" I said not wanting to know the answer.

"I can't let you go, Rachel. "

I stared at the steering wheel in horror. With a crackled, dry voice I was able to ask:

"W-Why?"

* * *

><p>"Because…" I started.<p>

"Yes?" She encouraged.

"Well, because…" I muttered in search of words.

"Because of what?"

"Because I… noticed that you have a sufficient knowledge over racing compared to my fellow 'cons and I find our situation… amusing."

_Scrap_, wrong word.

"AMUSING?! If you haven't noticed, o red speeder car, I am suffering of a broken shoulder and of wounds on my side because you, o fastest of the fastest, decided to kick me!" The human femme shouted.

"It was an accident! And besides, I fixed you and where's the thank you?!" I snapped back.

During the short time I had known Rachel I had never thought that she would be capable of getting angry. Frustrated, yes, but not angry. For a moment I was even… _afraid _of her. I truly had not wanted to hurt her, though the thought fought against my code of honor as a Decepticon. I looked at the sweating small girl on my front seat. She was scared- I was able to see it now.

"Rachel…" I began, " I don't want to lose you."

Her expression turned from fear to confusion. And to tell the truth, I was as confused. _What made me say that_?, I wondered, _why did I say that?_

"Lose? What do you mean?"She asked switching her weight on the seat uncomfortably.

"I, using the word you yourself used earlier, _enjoy_ my time with you."

Rachel blinked at the blunt sentence. "Well… I enjoy my time with you too… Except for the breaking-of-the-shoulder thing."

I chuckled lightly. _Yes, who wouldn't_.

For a moment we sat in awkward silence, she fearing what I might do, I fearing what she might say.

"Knock Out…"

"Hmm..?" I mumbled as I was cut out of my thoughts.

"What did you mean by 'lose'?" she asked rubbing her shoulder nervously.

"I meant exactly what I said. I don't want to lose you, I enjoy being with you. I'm sorry but there's no other way for me to explain it." I said my voice softening from its usual cockiness.

Small smile climbed onto her lips and just the sight of it made my engine hum.

"You know, Knock Out… For a car and all… You're, how should I put it? Special, you know. Here on Earth we have a saying that drivers don't pick their cars, it's the cars that pick their drivers… If I'm making any sense", she chuckled hiding her embarrassment.

_Yes_, I thought, _you're making perfect sense_.

Silence befell us again, but this time it had a different feel to it.

* * *

><p>I looked at the sea. The night was coming and the waves were calming down. Now only the occasional splashes of whiteheads broke the harmony.<p>

I could feel the sports car's grill against my leg, it was still radiating heat to cool down the engine.

"Well…", I started, "I better get going so that I don't miss my boat." I grabbed my bags from the dusty ground and swung them on my shoulders. "See you around, I guess…" I mumbled and gave the maroon red car a weak smile that turned out to be just a twitch of the corner of my lip.

A small rev told me he heard my goodbye.

I started down the walkway towards the dock as a male voice called out to me.

I turned to look at Knock Out. "Yeah?"

He switched gears and drove a bit closer.

"Mind if I call you to join me for a race, every now and then?" The red car asked and revved his engine to impress me.

A surpassed sigh escaped my lips.

"And I thought you'd never ask!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well... That's that, I'm afraid. The last chapter. I might be adding an epilogue (most likely I will) but I have to see how it works out. I greatly thank you for reading and wish you'd join me in reading my other stories (I have tons of ideas, I just need to write them down). :)<br>****Comments, ideas and reviews are always welcome.**


	8. Epilogue

**A bit of extra to replace the quick ending. ^^  
>Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC.<br>Rating: Safe T (as always)**

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><p>I was walking down the corridor to the med bay with a punch of crates filled with medical equipment found somewhere from the ship's cargo halls as Breakdown turned around the corner. My partner bumped at me and knocked the boxes right off of my servos.<p>

"Breakdown!" I hissed and looked at the pile on the floor.

The blue mech look stunned and was about to say something but hesitated and stepped back. "Sorry sir", he muttered and turned around.

"Breakdown, where do you think you're going? I need you at medical bay!" I shouted at my colleague. "Besides, what has gotten into you? You're acting… distant."

I knew how un-Decepticon like my sentence was but I couldn't have Breakdown's situation nag in the back of my head gadget all day, I was a busy 'con after all.

The big mech glanced over his shoulder and switched his weight from one foot to another annoyingly.

"Spill it out and let us get back to work! My finish can't take another… mark of disobedience from Starscream again." I muttered shivering from the sheer thought of those sharp talons touching my precious paint.

"Uh…", Breakdown started. It had always been difficult for him to verbalize his mind.

I stared at him patiently, lightly tapping my foot.

"You ain't mad at me anymore?" The blue mech muttered with almost no voice at all.

I scoffed and tilted my helm a bit. "Have I ever been mad at you longer than 2 clicks?"

"Um… No… Wait, yeah… back in your shop in Kaon when I…"

"DON'T REMIND ME!" I snarled placing a servo over his mouth. "I don't want to hear of it ever again."

My partner nodded and chuckled lightly.

I sighed, turned around and headed down to my work station. I could hear Breakdown picking up the crates and hurrying after me.

"So…" He started after catching up with me, "What's that red stain on your palm?"

I glanced down to look at the blood stain on my pale servo.

"That, Breakdown", I chuckled, "is an invitation."

"Hunh? An invitation to what?" The larger 'con grunted.

A smile crept to my face plate. _That you'll find out, soon enough_.

I laid a servo on my partner's arm: "Take the crates to the med bay and unload them, will you?"

I grinned at him and turned a corner leaving a stunned Breakdown standing alone.

"What will you do?" He called after me.

"What I do best!" I shouted back and opened my comlink.

"Hey Rachel, up for a ride?"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and following the story!<strong>


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